


It's Okay to Feel Something

by KatMotif



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bottling Up Emotions Isn't Good, Bumbleby hint, Canon Please Don't Hurt My Babies, F/M, First RWBY fic so be gentle, Gen, Gentle Kissing, Hugging, I just want Ren to open up to his team especially Nora, JNR Feels, Poly JNR if you squint, Poor Jaune is the third wheel, Post-Volume 7 (RWBY), Ren Angst, Renora, Self-Doubt, Team JNR deserves to be happy, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:48:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23762596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatMotif/pseuds/KatMotif
Summary: After the events in Atlas, Ren finds himself lost in all the emotions he tries to keep bottled up. But it overflows and he's left falling apart. Thankfully, his teammates are there to help him through it...if he lets them, of course.Post V7/What I Want to Happen in V8 fic. JNR Feels.
Relationships: Jaune Arc & Lie Ren, Jaune Arc & Lie Ren & Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie
Comments: 6
Kudos: 59





	It's Okay to Feel Something

Ren was a mess, much more so then he would usually allow himself to be. Locked in the bathroom in the safehouse they’d managed to find just outside Mantle, he’d been sitting on the floor, his head throbbing and his hands shaking. He’d stopped crying, finally, but his body still shook with hiccups. All he could think about was what had happened; that they had failed, and there was nothing they could do about it. There was nothing he could do about it, and it was all his fault.

_I know it was Neopolitan. But...Nora...I could never hurt Nora._

Guilt twisted inside him like a knife in his gut, his heart aching in a way it never had before. The thought of anything happening to his partner, his one constant in a life where nothing was for certain, the woman he loved, scared him more than even Salem herself. Especially if that something was done by his own hands. Gods, if he’d ever hurt Nora like that, he didn’t know what he would do.

_We weren’t ready to become huntsmen, we never should have left Argus. We were safe there._ Ren thought to himself, then immediately shook off the lie at the latter end of the statement. No, they were no safer there than anywhere else in Remnant. After Beacon, the one place they had ever allowed themselves to actually feel safe, he doubted he would ever feel completely safe again.

Ren hugged himself, rocking back and forth, trying to take deep breaths to calm himself; he couldn’t focus enough to just use his semblance right now, the emotional turmoil too great after keeping them all bottled up for so long. For all he knew, he was luring the Grimm to them and they would all be--

There was a banging on the door so loud it shook Ren out of his thoughts, making up jump slightly from where he sat. It was such a loud bang that he thought someone was honestly trying to break down the door, which wouldn’t be the first time he’d experienced someone breaking into where he’d been hiding.

“Ren! You’ve been in there for a while now! Are you okay?” Jaune’s voice came through the wooden door, a shout with worry on the edge of his tone. Ren bit the inside of his cheek.

“I-I’m fine,” he lied, blatantly, trying his best to mask his voice but unable to hide the cracking in his voice. “Please, do not worry about me.”

“Open the door, Ren. Please.” Nora spoke now, her voice soft but insistent. Normally, he would be relieved to hear her voice but right now, it just filled him with shame. He couldn’t let her see him like this, in this state. He was always the one who needed to be strong for her, if she saw him like this it would break her heart.

Like I haven’t already done that with how I’ve acted lately. He thought bitterly, reflecting on how he’d been distancing himself from her affections more since they’d been in Atlas, tensions making him uneasy about their safety. About her safety. He thought of the kiss they’d shared at Robyn Hill’s rally on election night, and the immediate danger that came after. What if Tyrian had been closer to them, what if he had attacked one or both of them?

“Ren, come on.” Jaune’s voice became more annoyed, probably because Ren hadn’t responded. With a sigh, Ren shakily rose a bit, quickly unlocking the door and resuming his previous position, leaning his aching head on the cold tiles on the bathroom wall. Nora poked her head in first, red hair disheveled slightly, her blue eyes red and puffy, as if she’d been crying.

_She probably started crying when you stormed off. Ren, you fool._

“Ren…” Nora soothed, slowly moving closer to him, sitting next to him on her knees. He looked down, away from her, trying to hide his face, undoubtedly red and sullen in the state he was in. No, she could not see him this way.

“Damn it, Ren.” Jaune scolded, sitting on the other side of him, his armored hand resting on his back. “What’s going on with you lately? You’ve been so...closed off since we’ve been here in Atlas. We’re all starting to worry about you. Like, really worry.”

“We should be worrying about what to do next.” Ren managed to choke out, fighting back a sob just barely. “I am the least of your concern--”

“Bullshit.” Jaune said, his hand moving to Ren’s shoulder, a gentle nudge prompting him to sit up a bit more. Ren couldn’t hide his face anymore, not with Jaune holding him up like this, and he looked up at Nora. Nora sighed, tears beginning to stream down her face, and she threw her arms around Ren, pulling him closer, resting his head on her shoulder. She buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed softly. Ren broke, throwing his arms around her waist and breathing heavily. Jaune sighed and he too hugged his teammates, resting his head against Ren’s.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do. None of us do. We don’t know if Oscar and Qrow are okay.” Jaune spoke gently, rubbing Ren’s forearm with one hand.

“You said before that we have nothing. But you’re wrong. We...we still have each other, Ren. As long as we have each other, that’s something. Okay?” Nora whimpered, stroking his hair. Ren sobbed into the crook of her neck, remembering him speaking those words and wishing he could take them back so very badly.

“We shouldn’t...have...left Oscar on his own…” Ren whimpered.

“No. We shouldn’t have...but I think he’s gonna be okay. He’s...still got Ozpin, after all.” Jaune spoke, a suggestion more than something he felt. Ren sighed, and Jaune shook with a sob of his own, his face in Ren’s back.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do. But we have to stick together.” their leader breathed, and the three of them sat quietly for a time, silently crying in each other’s arms. Once the worst of it came to pass, Nora pulled away from Ren slightly, cupping his face in her hands. Her thumbs stroked his cheeks, wiping tear streaks that had been left behind.

“Please Ren...you have to talk to us. Bottling everything up all the time is really wearing you out...and it’s scaring me.” she whispered. He sighed again, leaning forward a bit to press his forehead against hers. She sighed in return, closing her eyes at the affectionate gesture, not a common occurrence with her partner but a welcome one. Jaune sighed on the other side of Ren, lifting himself off of them and slowly rising.

“Excuse me, don’t...want to be a third wheel here.” He added, offering them both a smile before sauntering out of the bathroom. Ren felt a slight tinge of guilt. He thought of Pyrrha.

“Hey.” Nora brought him back to them, to this moment, his pink eyes meeting her blue, both equally puffy and red. “Talk to me, Lie.” she breathed, and he swallowed. She hardly ever just used his given name, knowing his family name was his preference of address, but when she did, he knew she wouldn’t let him not tell her something. Things got serious when she called him Lie.

“I’m...scared. Of losing you. Of...not being strong enough to protect you. Of…” Ren paused, biting his lip and trying not to start crying again. Nora hushed him softly, kissing his nose and stroking his face some more.

“I’m scared of those things too. But...I don’t want you to be scared to love me back because of these things, Lie.” she whispered, his eyes widening by the statement.

“I’m…” he wanted to lie, say he wasn’t scared of that, but he knew that’s exactly what he’d been doing. His pulling away, letting her down when she’d been more affectionate. He lowered his head slightly, looking down.

“I-I’m sorry.” he breathed. The kiss at the rally flashed back into his mind again, how everything around them disappeared when she’d suddenly pulled him in, kissing him boldly. How for an instance, he’d allowed himself to feel it, everything, his love for her and her love for him in return. His hands shook as he took her hands down from his face and held them in his, looking back into her eyes again.

“I love you. I _do_ love you. I’m just...scared. Of how intense everything is right now. What’s happening. How I feel about you. How scared I am. It’s almost too much.” he spoke, his voice a bit hoarse. Nora smiled, squeezing his hands in hers and biting her lip as more tears came from her eyes, because, _Gods_ , he’d finally said it.

“I love you too. I’m scared too, but...as long as we have _each other_ , and we can _protect each other_ , we’re going to be okay. We always have been.” Nora spoke, bumping her nose gently into his. After a moment of just breathing and looking into each other’s eyes, Ren leaned down, pressing his lips against Nora’s. He kissed her gentler than she’d kissed him but the feeling was the same, and her arms were around his neck again and he’d pulled her closer, by her waist, and she’d moaned against his mouth--

“Guys, this is...a welcome change of pace and all. But I gotta go.” Ruby’s voice interrupted them from the door, causing the lovers to look up at her sheepishly. The younger huntress hopped slightly in place and smiled in an equally sheepish manner herself. The two slowly got up (Ren’s legs had fallen asleep, so he’d nearly stumbled) and apologized as they left the bathroom to her.

Walking down the hall, they walked by the common room. Jaune had passed out on the couch, curled into a ball. Weiss sat on the other side of the couch, staring off into space, her brow furrowed. Penny was talking with her father and Maria, and Yang and Blake were leaning onto each other on the other couch. Nora led Ren to one of the bedrooms and closed the door behind them. Their eyes met again and they smiled at each other.

Ren sat on one of the two beds, slowly removing boots and parts of armor and laying down. Nora did the same, curling up beside him, resting her head on his shoulder and locking her legs with his. He wrapped the arm of the shoulder she rested on around her waist, leaning over slightly and kissing her temple.

“Promise me you’ll talk to me when you need to.” Nora whispered, her arms wrapping around his waist. His other arm leaned over hers, stroking one of her forearms softly.

“I will try.” Ren breathed.

“Promise.” Nora insisted softly.

“...I promise.” Ren relented with a sigh. Her arms squeezed a bit tighter around him and her head moved a bit more onto his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is the first RWBY fic I wrote and it's about the secondary main team. Oops. (I love RWBY too don't get me wrong but I'm very concerned for JNR/JNOR right now so I'm venting it out via fic). It's been a long time coming bc I've been into the series since V2 and I've wanted to write fic but it's actually not often I write fic for a series that's ongoing instead of one that's been over for decades. For all I know next volume will handle these things better than I did (if they do at all, and I really hope they do, because they should).


End file.
